the star only rises at nightfall 💫 : dissecting my kotlc playlist
playlist can be found here!
1. stay awake by skott
“i need it to hurt, need it to burn, need it to burn. once, we had a dream. we once had a dream. this dream was all that i could see.”
despite how pretty this song is, it’s for the neverseen. i think the lyrics above in particular suit fintan, although it honestly matches anyone in the neverseen. they’re unhinged and see their vision as the be all end all - a dream that’s all they can see.
2. set myself on fire by taeyeon
“i'll warm up your cold heart; i'm gonna set myself on fire.”
tbh, i chose this song for the title and the chorus (“even if i smile brighter, i’m still sad.”) and the general vibes of the song, but i think the line above really suits the self sacrificing vibe that sophie and her friends have for each other - it doesn’t have to be just the romantic pairings - they all love each other.
3. gilded lily by cults
“but with my double vision, how was i supposed to see the way? haven’t i given enough?”
this one’s pretty self explanatory, i think. the song fits all of the main characters, from sophie and keefe and fitz to mr. forkle and oralie and grady. also, this line reminds me of keefe especially - “always the fool with the slowest heart.”
4. astronomical by svrcina
“there’s something inside of me i can’t fight. forces of gravity taking me, taking me. weightlessness forsaking me, this pull is astronomical. can anybody stop me?”
this was one of the first artists i associated with kotlc when i first started reading the series. it was only natural that they released a song that suited sophie’s drive and endless desire to change the lost cities for the better.
5. winterfall by dpr ian
“now, i get what you mean when it hurts you. now, i get what you mean when you want to feel. oh, i get it. no, i get it. [...] you’re the only one who made me feel like something.”
keefe sencen, y’all. could apply to his feelings for sophie or the way his mom just continues to use him with no regard for his personal being.
6. running by trafton
“truth is, i’ve been wishing in your name right from the start. twice a day, and lately on a star. i know you’ve been running, running, running, running, running from yourself.”
this one’s keefe again (can you tell he’s my favorite character?) but maybe a little more from an outsider point of view, watching him cope with what’s thrown at him. also suits early sophie struggling to accept whether the black swan was good or not, or whether a band of murderers made her.
7. a place you’ve been by trafton
“nothing, like that won't get me started up again. my homeland, a place you've been.”
grady and edaline towards brant. the ultimate - and best written betrayal.
8. gone by trafton
“but you're gone and i'm lost. come tell me i'm wrong and please don't be gone.”
when everyone thought they lost alden in exile. the black swan when they did lose prentice. mr. forkle to his brother.
9. dead flowers by rivals
“i see the world in a new light. dead flowers in my hair - i finally don’t care! i’ve embraced the rain and i’m happy now.”
an edaline anthem if i’ve ever heard it. that moment where she overcomes her grief. also suits: biana, della, sophie, and wylie
10. don’t let me sleep by stella jones + trafton
“don’t let me sleep. i know what it means: my dreams will all come true - i’ll wake up without you.”
neverseen keefe and sophie type beat anyone?
11. half by pvris
keefe, sophie: “some days, i feel everything. others are numbing.”
fitz, linh: “can never find the in between - it’s all or nothing.”
dex, biana, tam: “i never never never said i wanted. never wanted to be here now.”
i fully believe this song can relate to anyone in kotlc, depending on the verse.
12. bubble by lennon stella
“up high in my bubble i’m floating. [...] i climb into my bubble; it can’t be broken.”
that one scene on the nightfall cover with linh, sophie, and keefe. but also sophie emotionally breaking down and seeking out that safe place.
13. supernova by rivals
“these stars are clusters. a waste of time that i won’t miss.”
sandor never misses. the song, though, reminds me of the elves waking up to how broken their society really is.
14. brainstorm by alexander 23
“how bad’s the weather in your head? wish you could stay with me instead.”
such a sokefe song. i can practically picture that scene where keefe bends down to see how sophie is doing after the forkle twin reveal.
15. emotional machine by marina
“i’m a machine - an emotional being, since i was a teen.”
fitz vacker, y’all.
16. change your mind by said the sky + vancouver sleep clinic
“if i could only turn back time, i would bring us back to life. if i could only change your mind, we’d stay young and never die.”
forkle to his twin. oralie to kenric. grady and edaline to jolie. and maybe even jolie to brant.
17. family line by conan gray
“oh, all that i did to try to undo it. all of my pain and all your excuses. i was a kid but i wasn’t clueless (someone who loves you wouldn’t do this!) all of my past, i tried to erase it. but now i see, would i even change it. might share a face and share a last name but (we are not the same!).”
i don’t even need to put the lyrics here for y’all to know this is about keefe and the sencens and tam and linh and the songs.
18. hall of fame by the script
“you can move a mountain, you can break rocks.”
gethen lol. but also an ode to the moonlark’s power.
19. infinity by jaymes young
“meet me at the bottom of the ocean where time is frozen - where all the universe is open.”
but also the vibes are v mysterious and suit the black swan in the early keeper books sonically (the black swan is not in love)
((this is actually bc i wrote a sokeefe fic inspired by this song))
20. marchin on by onerepublic
“there’s so many wars we fought. there’s so many things we’re not. but with what we have, i promise you that we’re marchin’ on.”
21. human by of monsters and men
“when the words weight heavy on the heart, i am lost and led only by the stars.”
lightleaping by the forbidden stars. also a song from when i first started reading the series.
22. elephant ears by unlike pluto
“say your thoughts when you think i won’t hear, but nothing gets by these elephant ears.”
23. wolves without teeth by of monsters and men
“oh, you’re feeding on my energy, i’m letting go of it - she wants it.”
a little like the push and pull of the water to linh, or how enhancing an ability would feel.
24. blue by taeyeon
“you’re my blue - just like always.”
ik the color is green for kotlc and grieving, but blue is in honor of someone close to the singer who passed away, so i thought the song was fitting. especially since all elves have blue eyes, it was another connection.
25. lifted by birdy
“won’t you lead the way through my darker days? keep them softly spoken.”
26. you’re the sea by andrew belle
“each time we leave, i think about it. what if we don’t come back? if all of this is chasing the wind, why is my head like that? am i to believe? am i to admit? that you’re the sea.”
keefe to sophie, for the latter lyrics, but also just the general fear they all face every time they have a near death experience.
27. purple circles by jades goudrealt
“can’t control my thoughts when i’m out of my mind. it’s lonely but it’s art. i guess i’ll be fine.”
sophie foster, y’all.
28. alone in a battlefield by nineteen90 + lilu
“one round and it’s done. standing alone in a battlefield.”
29. lavenders by rivals
“all i smell are lavenders, as the world burns down, around me.”
that scene where kenric dies. idk if the tower was actually purple but i’ve been picturing it to be purple, and they claim that everblaze smells different from other fires.
30. insane by neykid
“when i lie awake, i hear them call my name. am i crazy?”
another neverseen anthem. alvar/ruy ignis type beat. also suits lady gisela.
31. what you’re made of by lindsey stirling + kiesza
“lost yourself inside a broken mirror ‘cause that’s what you fear.”
the events of lodestar, perhaps.
32. nightshift by mothica
“then i go nightshift, like this. don’t cross me ‘cause i don’t miss.”
grizel. lady gisela. also edaline. and della. and juline. and all the powerful women of kotlc.
33. fear by one republic
“when we were children, we’d say that we don’t know the meaning of fear.”
34. trouble by coldplay
“so, i turned to run. all the stupid things i’d done - and i never meant to cause you trouble. i never meant to do you wrong. i, well, if i ever caused you trouble. oh no, i never meant to do you harm.”
keefe to sophie. also mr. forkle to sophie. and sophie to her friends. juline to the dizznees.
35. pyrokinesis by 7chariot
“we could set the world on fire using only our minds. pyrokinesis, we hurt each other without even trying.”
36. star by mothica
“you’re gonna be a star girl, don’t you know? burn so bright and beautiful. how far girl, will you go? climbing up that pedestal. to be so tragic and rare, they all stop and stare, looking right through you.”
biana vacker, y’all. also sophie and marella.
37. moonlit by rivals
“it’s me against the rest. i’m reaching through the darkness - is anybody out there?”
tam and linh song, y’all.
38. fire in my bones by fleurie
“pulses push the limits, testing my resistance.”
dex dizznee, y’all.
39. dangerous by rivals
“these demons knock on my door but they don’t dare come in ‘cause they know what’s best for them. they wanna rip out my soul but they can’t break skin cause i, i know i’m dangerous.”
sophie! freaking! foster!
40. r.e.m.
“and i don’t want to push you away but i still relive every moment, hoping you don’t notice, you just tripped a red light in my mind.”
keefe to his past memories of his mom. sophie to the black swan’s erased/hidden memories. fitz and biana to alvar. grady and edaline to brant.
41. my blood by ellie goulding
“and god knows i’m not dying but i bleed now. and god knows it’s the only way to heal now.”
42. conspiracy of silence by the swoons
“don’t know where you side. there’s blood in your eyes. will you weapon your skin, feed the monster within? or put up a fight?”
keefe about his mother’s legacy. the vackers on their legacy. grady with his ability. sophie with her abilities and physically fighting.
43. wildwood by fleurie
“deep sleep battles underneath the moon.”
keefe to sophie lol (also bc of the colonies!!)
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already losing you
@illavarasi here it is, unedited, short, and horrible, but at least i did it.
listen to this while reading, if you wish! (it inspired the title, so i made a lil playlist!) angst warning, major character death. sophitz? sokeefe? sokeefitz? who knows, really?
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.
“NO!” Sophie shrieked , but she couldn’t move. They had given her a drug, a drug that prevented her from moving. One that paralized her.
The only way to disable the device set to destroy the humans was to go inside it, as Dex had confirmed.
And it could only be disabled by a Telepath or an Empath
The head or the heart.
“No, no this can’t be how it ends, please, let me do it, let me do it!” She was crying now. She couldn’t lose them. Either of them.
She had to bear it.
Like she always did.
So they didn’t have to.
That was her job.
Not theirs.
“Sophie,” Keefe’s voice cracked. “It’s our turn now.” He gently brushed her hair from her forehead, closed his eyes briefly, before turning to Fitz. “Let me do it.”
But Fitz just shakes his head. “No.”
“Fitz-”
It’s quick, too quick for Sophie to follow, especially under the influence of the drug. There was no one else around to stop him, only them three.
Keefe falls to the ground beside Sophie, Fitz holding the syringe holding the same drug they had given Sophie to stop her from disabling the device herself.
Shakily, he put the syringe on the ground, kneeling down beside them. “You have to live.” He touches both of their cheeks. “Tell Biana I love her, okay?”
“NO! No, Fitz-” Tears ran down Sophie’s face. “You-you can’t-”
He shakes his head. “Biana will be okay. You’ll be okay. It...it’ll be okay. You’ll be fine without me.”
“Fitz, you can’t--who will be there to tell me I’m being stupid? Who’ll be there to laugh at my jokes? Who’ll be there to tell me--to tell me it’ll all be okay?” Keefe tries to move, to move closer to him, to stop him, with no success.
“She’ll be there.” He nods to Sophie. “Take care of her, okay? Promise?”
“No, no, Fitz, you--you can’t--” Sophie whispers, Fitz is only looking at Keefe. “Promise?”
Keefe swallows. “I--I, yes. I promise.”
Fitz smiled briefly, before standing up. He clenched his fists to stop them from shaking, and walked into the device.
He looked back, once, at his best friends.
Sophie would forever remember the last glimpse of those beautiful teal eyes.
The ones that had saved her.
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